Mar 7 Real Wedding: Kelly & Chris

Today's Real Wedding Wednesday feature is from a beautifully creative couple, Kelly and Chris. They got married in Huddersfield in June 2017. Their rustic and extremely elegant wedding style with Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park details is quirky, stunning and totally them. We love the formal stately home ceremony followed by an informal marquee reception which has been styled to perfection and in such a bespoke and individual way.

I hand you over to Kelly who tells us more about their wedding day. Be prepared for lots of awwing, swooning and goosebumps as you get inspired for your wedding day. The photos and video from Gray Weddings document the day in a truly romantic way. The dress from Ronald Joyce and veil are simply stunning too. Grab a cuppa and just enjoy!

Overview

We got married at Crow Hill in Marsden (Huddersfield) which backed onto the stunning backdrop of the National Trust Marsden Moor Estate - when we visited the Open Day, we knew it was the one; we could imagine all of our friends and family having an amazing time there. We hit capacity with 80 guests during the day and approx. 110 for the evening. I had 3 beautiful bridesmaids while Chris had 8 'Best Men' who all took ownership of separate Best Man duties and did incredibly.

How did you meet?

We met at a party in Freshers Week at the University of Huddersfield in 2007. I later realised it was a foam party (if I'd have known, I'd have given it a miss haha) He was wearing an inflatable frog rubber ring, luckily he ditched that before we had a cheeky smooch on the dancefloor!

10 years later, we got married!

Tells us the engagement story

I'm a big fan of period dramas and stately homes, I'd always said I'd love to go to Chatsworth House. So we took a random Friday off work and planned a day out.

Unbeknownst to me, Chris had been engagement ring shopping with his Mum (got up and dressed as if he was going to work but went sneaking around Manchester and Huddersfield!)

He got down on one knee as we set up our picnic on the lawn by the fountain andsaid that he wanted to grow old with me and would I marry him :) Contrary to his version of the story, I didn't have a mouthful of sausage roll at the time of him asking!!

How long were you engaged and planning your wedding day?

We got engaged in April 2015, we both knew to do it the next year would be a bit of a push, so we looked at dates in 2017. To say we were engaged just over 2 years sounds a long time, but it soon flies! Coming from creative backgrounds, we knew we wanted to design quite a bit of it ourselves so I think we have ourselves a decent amount of time to create something we both loved.

What made you fall in love with the venue?

We had lived in Huddersfield for nearly 10 years at that point, so it made sense for us to look around this area. Neither of us are from Huddersfield originally (me - North East, Chris - Manchester) so we didn't want to put either family out of their way too much.

We'd visited a few venues before we knew Crow Hill was the one; we wanted a venuethat could do it all - provide exclusive accommodation, have a lovely ceremony room and then a big enough space for a party! Crow Hill offered all of that as well as a relaxed, home - from-home vibe.

Tell us about the inspiration behind your styling?

This part of the wedding planning I was particularly excited about! We both liked the rustic trend and knew we wanted to put our own twist on things.

For example, we knew we wanted a lot of foliage & greenery. When we spoke to our florist, Lily Blossom, about this we mentioned how ferns reminded us of Jurassic Park and that's when we decided to have wooden dinosaurs hiding amongst the table centrepieces!

Everybody loved them and ended up taking them home!

Tell us about the dress!

It's a Ronald Joyce dress that I got from Blush Boutique in Saddleworth. I orginally went for another dress they stocked however once I tried this on - it had everything I wanted from my wedding dress.

I'd never been particularly bothered about a veil, but there was one that matched the dress perfectly - I felt like an actual bride! - I'm so glad I decided to wear one.

What was the most important aspect to you for your wedding day?

I couldn't put my finger on one thing that was most important, but something that I'm so glad we did arrange was the string quartet. We knew music would be important for the day, but now there are certain songs that evoke a lot of feelings and memories wheneverI hear them - I walked down the aisle to The Northern String Quartet, playing 'Where is my mind?' by The Pixies and it brings back all of those butterflies from the day!

What was the most memorable moment of your wedding day?

There were so many!! It was an amazing day which I wish could've lasted longer!

It meant so much to us both to have everyone we loved in the same room at the same time; the last song played was 'Don't Look Back In Anger', everyone was in a massive circle on the dancefloor and I remember looking around, overwhelmed, and saying to Chris "Just look at everyone!" I'll never forget that feeling!

What advice would you give to other couples planning their Indie Wedding Day?

Don't be afraid to do things YOUR way. We weren't ones for traditions; we saw each on the morning of the wedding before parting ways to get ready and I didn't go for the old, new, borrowed, blue thing.

Older family members might not 'get it', but they'll soon realise that the wedding you've planned is a reflection of yourself as a couple and how could they not love it?!

I own a wedding planning and styling business Emily K Weddings and love all things weddings, travel and design. After living in London for 6 years I’ve now returned to my humble roots in Yorkshire where I truly belong. As a former Interior Designer, I have a passion for design and anything pretty. I’m also a huge fan of a plan and a total geek when it comes to the details.

I can’t cope without a strong coffee on a morning and a good gin on a weekend (OK, a Thursday)! I’m excited to be part of the And So To Wed team and can’t wait to see where the wonderful world weddings takes us all this year. Emily x

I own a wedding planning and styling business Emily K Weddings and love all things weddings, travel and design. After living in London for 6 years I’ve now returned to my humble roots in Yorkshire where I truly belong. As a former Interior Designer, I have a passion for design and anything pretty. I’m also a huge fan of a plan and a total geek when it comes to the details.

I can’t cope without a strong coffee on a morning and a good gin on a weekend (OK, a Thursday)! I’m excited to be part of the And So To Wed team and can’t wait to see where the wonderful world weddings takes us all this year. Emily x